From Your Bounty

Mystery.

26 He said, “This is how it is with the kingdom of God;[a] it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land 27 and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. 28 Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”
30 He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. 32 [b]But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” 33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. 34 Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.-Mark4:26-34

Life is indeed mysterious. Some efforts are too big already, and yet yielded no result. Some efforts are too small, yet yielded much result. We are created to be stewards and caretakers. We can plant, we can build, we can do something. But success and growth will never be attributed to our efforts no matter how much it is. Rather, success and growth are gifts of God to us. As the prayer said, "... which we are about to receive from Your bounty." By ourselves, we can do nothing. Everything is grace from God.

Image courtesy: artist

Disguised Grace

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

1 He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. 2 At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. 5 He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed. 6 He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What [then] will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this scripture passage:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
11 by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes’?”
12 They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them. So they left him and went away.-Mark12:1-12

Rejection. Nobody wants it. Given a chance, we would always wanted to be accepted, welcomed and received in the best way. But in today's Gospel, I cannot help but realize that sometimes rejection is a blessing in disguise, a hidden and strange grace. A few years ago, my job contract ended at the time allotted for it right from the start. Although I knew it was coming because right from the start it was clear to me, I did not really take it seriously. When the day came that I have to go, I was much pained. However, a much better job offer came to me with better pay, better work and more chances of growth. As I look back, I would always marvel and say to God that if my previous job did not end at the right time, the better job will never be given to me. So let's look back on the many rejections we had and see how God weaved His plan through it so that we become better individuals or a much blessed individual.

Image courtesy: artist

Jesus reveals Himself

Jesus reveals Himself to those who love Him.

21 Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” 22 Judas, not the Iscariot,[a] said to him, “Master, [then] what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.
25 “I have told you this while I am with you. 26 The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you.-John14:21-26

So many people claim that they cannot see God nor can they relate to Jesus. They say, "It happened a long time ago." or "Religion is outdated in our modern world." or even question "Can it be true?" Today, Jesus has answer to them, "And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him." To see Jesus, one must love Him. Love means believing. There are many ways to know Jesus such as - one must open one's mind to the Scriptures, one must open one's heart to Love, and one must be open to grace.

Image courtesy: artist

Everything is Grace

Stay with us.

13 Now that very day two of them were going to a village seven miles[a] from Jerusalem called Emmaus, 14 and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. 15 And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, 16 [b]but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?”
... They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. 21 But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. 22 Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning 23 and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. 24 Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer[c] these things and enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures. 28 As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. 29 But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. 31 With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. 32 Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” 33 So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them 34 who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.-Luke24:13-35

Everything is grace. It begins with grace. It ends with grace. Seemingly, it is the disciples who invited Jesus to stay with them. But the truth, Jesus is the one who invited them to Him. Without the disciples knowledge, Jesus secretly knocks in their hearts as He interpreted the Scriptures to them. Surely, something is stirred within them as they listened. And they responded to this 'hidden grace' by inviting Jesus - a stranger in their eyes at the moment - to stay with them. With the breaking of the bread, their eyes were opened making them witnesses too.

It is true that Jesus knocks in our hearts always. How then should we respond? Are we going to open? Or, are we going to ignore. Remember, the disciples who went to Emmaus seemingly struck gold when they asked Jesus to stay with them. What could Jesus be bringing along as He knocks in our hearts?

Image courtesy: St. Takla

Pride and Prejudice

The humbled and the exalted.

9 He then addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. 10 “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ 13 But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”-Luke18:9-14

One day my friend shared that when she was in the middle of her job training, one boss shared that he doesn't prefer graduates from top schools because the latter usually fights back, talks back, arrogant, and so forth. But, when my sister was looking for a job many years ago, she encountered many executives who prefer graduates of top schools, graduates who studied with this or that professor, graduates with 'connections directly or indirectly,' graduates who revolve in the same circle with them, executives, one way or another. Years before, a boss asked me who I prefer as friends, and I said, "Anybody." He said, "No! Pick only the rich, the well-connected, and brilliant. Because a janitor cannot help you when you are in trouble. They will even ask money from you. Make friends with the elite only. They alone can help you." I do not exactly agree with him because one way or another, a person is capable of helping me or others regardless of his/her status.

The world is full of prejudice and discrimination. We may deny it, we may say we haven't done it, but in truth, we have done it perhaps unconsciously or indirectly. Jesus is teaching us to be humble always. He is reminding us that we are all created the same way, have committed sins, imperfect. Who are we, then, to separate ourselves from the rest of humanity, if we have sinned just like the rest? Rather than focusing on ourselves and in our own human capacities and successes, let us bear in mind that God is the true Bringer of all that we enjoy in life. "God can give and can take away."

Image courtesy: The Passion of the Christ

God's Not Dead! He Lives Forever!

Blessed are they who open themselves to God.

21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

22 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

23 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”-Luke10:21-24

Blessed indeed are the eyes and ears that saw and heard Jesus during His active ministry. We still see and hear Him though obscurely and in faith. How I wish for the time when finally I would see clearly God's Presence through the grace of beatific vision.

Jesus pointed out that the childlike are the ones who easily see and believe in God, whereas the wise and the learned - the thinkers of this time - cannot easily accept Him. The knowledge of God will always be hidden to anyone who does not have a childlike heart. This knowledge is not difficult to gain because what is needed is simple openness, acceptance and understanding that God is alive and lives among us and is in us. Once we opened to this grace, the flood gate of knowledge is opened making us see and understand Him according to our capacity. Strange that thinkers would like to prove that God existed mathematically, scientifically and philosophically. But once proven that indeed He existed, the thinkers use the fact against Him.

I saw the movie "God's Not Dead" the other day and I was so touched by the many students, men and women who defended God, who stood by God, and bravely defied their professors and teachers who taught the opposite. Indeed, these students, men and women are God's instruments, warriors and in some way, present day "Martyrs." Yes, they shared the hardships and persecutions of the early Christians who bravely surrendered themselves for the Faith.

Are we brave enough to stand by God today?

Image courtesy: G. Dore (Paradiso) and 'God's Not Dead' movie